If you haven’t already, now would be a good time to start immersing yourself in SiR’s new album, Chasing Summer. The Inglewood singer whose first name really is “Sir” debuted just last year, and he’s already back for more. On Summer, spots by Kendrick Lamar, Jill Scott, Smino and Khadja Bonet give you a sense of collab caliber, but some of the best tracks on the album are by SiR alone. On “You Can’t Save Me,” SiR laments an unrequited love interest in a lovely, velvety croon that sounds like a more nuanced Leon Bridges. And the nuance extends to the narrative, too: he’s not trying to weasel his way into his interest’s heart; he’s just getting the feelings off his chest. “You can’t save me from myself” becomes another way of saying, “I can’t have you, and that’s ok.”
I had a friend once who would set daily phone reminders to “give [her partner] a hug and tell him you love him.”* It seemed odd to need that manual reminder, but evidently, she wasn’t alone. A number of relationship apps are now in play to keep people on the up-and-up in partnership. For $12 a month, an app called “Lasting” by The Knot will send you not one but several reminders to send caring messages throughout the day, and will also lead you and your partner through exercises designed to facilitate conversations on issues like communication, sex, and money. Be warned that the notifications are just as awkward as my friend’s phone reminders (“Let’s learn how to keep your marriage healthy!”), but perhaps any step is a positive step.
*Said friend and her partner are no longer together.
Whether or not you’re engaging with your own relationship through a screen, why not use one to dive into the lives of others? The New York Times appears to have made their popular Modern Love segment into a TV show with the help of Amazon Prime and some megastars like Tina Fey and Dev Patel. Tune in, then subscribe to the print paper for irony, if you would.
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